AIBU to think Bs at GCSE are ok?

[catwalker]

Some issues with DS and GCSEs/6th form. He didn't get the grades he was predicted (As and As) but then I didn't expect him to as he doesn't put much effort into anything apart from his x box. He got mainly Bs, a couple of As, a couple of Cs and a couple of Ds. I was quite happy until I started reading the secondary education forum where people are tearing their hair out because their dc's didn't get straight As and may have blown their oxbridge chances. I get the impression that anything less than an A just isn't worth the paper it's written on. He could have done loads better but Bs are OK aren't they?

Crossword, I wouldn't go there tbh!

Oh, do try and keep up, Xenia!

Xenia what you continually fail to acknowledge is the stupidity of your post "most of our bin men have tattoos and plenty are just out of prison".

As an intelligent woman surely you realise the offence caused by such a remark?

Word it is great that there are woman out there working hard, bringing up their families, having books published etc etc. However it is a huge shame those same woman then come out with ridiculous narrow minded comments.

Someone can have all the success in the world but if they spout rubbish on the internet it tends to make others think less of them.

Our bin men are often unemployed graduates. They take on whoever is desperate enough to be there early in the morning (well a few casuals each day). Several friends sons have done it and are now working in the city.
B's should be fine, but with grade inflation they may not be. However as someone else said not working hard enough isn't; although with a teenage son I know that however much you lead a horse to water you can't make it drink (or a boy revise).

I dare say we need Binmen more than we need international contract lawyers....

Please someone correct me or enlighten me, What does having tattoos or being fat, or being working class has to do with B's at GCSE?
With comment like these Xenia I can't take anything you say seriously, some of the comments and statements you pass here border with lunacy.
Your posts are filled with sweeping generalisations, insults, and frankly they don't resonate intelligence and capability.

adamschic That's precisely why I am asking the question tbh
The grade boundaries for GCSE are very much to the point imho
Seriously, do we know what percentage of the candidates get A's B's etc?
Let's not get side-tracked from the issue of GCSE's. Binmen's tattoos are fine but not really getting us very far
Can anyone answer my question?

wordfactory - that's interesting to read...

Yes, it's clear that Xenia likes to tell MNers that it's possible to have a family and successful full time profession (which for many women it is - everyone knows this, I believe ).

Sometimes, though, it does look a bit peculiar when posters spew out very glib, poorly informed opinions, at the same time as professing to practice in professions where generally it's second nature for practitioners to be very adroit at expressing themselves clearly, concisely and intelligently.

ragged......................I like that.

Everyone needs a binman...............................how many of us will need a contract lawyer or indeed a lawyer.............

Crossword, I think the grade boundaries reflect your percentages but instead of saying that one year is brighter than another, they say that some years the exams are harder or there was a killer question or indeed one that was impossible to answer .

Now that we are past 500 posts, do people feel like addressing the question of what GCSE B grades might be good for.

If they are not useful for most graduate professions, should those students be looking at A level study and then entering the workplace, as Exoticfruits talked about earlier?

I'm not talking particularly about the OP's son, who has got B grades through lack of work and could end up with A*/A/B grades at at A level. I mean somebody who is a solid B grade student at GCSE.

MilyR, a solid B student could still try for A levels in the subjects they enjoy most. Even in DD's school which isn't great for sixth form some B grade at GCSE students are getting B grades at AS in English for one and another humantities subject where the teaching is particularly strong.

Failing that there are BTEC's which will get them into uni, OK not the top ones but some good courses available in vocational subjects.

Leave school and try to get an apprenticeship, go to FE college, learn a trade.

AC, I am talking about careers, not university. The vast majority of university students will not go into a graduate professions, so I am interested in what kind of career options are available to my child, and what the routes are into those careers. I don't see the point of doing BTECs so that a student can pay 50 grand for a degree that has no graduate career at the end of it.

Our DS is continuing with AS/A levels in subjects he excelled at, DS was also working last summer and this summer flat our with DH, if DS struggles with his A level studies, and at the end of it gain string of B's or C's, and we had this conversation, I don't thing academic route, a degree will be for him, he will start full time work at 18.
I don't think it would be sensible to pursue uni just for the sake of it to gain a degree which isn't worth paper it's written on and cough up in a region of £9000 per year for something that may lead nowhere, he would better of working.
This is a course of plan we as family discussed in fine detail, it wasn't easy, but just because DH and I hold degree's it doesn't make DS automatically entitled to one.

I think this chap could have got As but did not work. In the light of that he may do pretty well at A level if he does some work. If someone works very hard and gets Bs you can still do a lot of things if you're determined and think laterally.

I think this is another case of Mumsnet being in a bubble. I've taught at a (very very good) grammar school and lots of students will have Bs along with their As.

I also taught at a 6th form college. A level entry was 5 A-Cs and a B in the subject that the student wished to study. Still completely possible to do well at A level.

This boy was bright enough to get As anyway so A levels wont at all be a problem (or university or a good career).

I was an A grade student, went to Oxford etc etc. I have plenty of friends at Oxford Brooks (didn't require A at A level) who are earning more than me now. Very good OTs who lecture, engineers who earn tons etc. Plenty of careers can be accessed without As. Most in fact. Some highly competitive lawyer/medicine jobs might be out but that's it.

Some people really do live in a funny world...

CrosswordA asked:
"Is it correct that the grades at GCSE are worked out as follows: 10%A's
20%B's 40%/C's 20%D's10%E's
If so, where do the A*s fit in and where do the F/Gs fit in?"

I am not a helicopter parent and I have never looked once at any piece of GCSE course work of any of the children even so I'm not the best person to ask. I thought one problem and why we have grade inflation is that they do not do what is above. If you meet the standard they will give you the A or the A, even if it means that year everyone gets A. I might be wrong though.

My own subjective feeling is that my AAB is probably A A A nowadays although it would be impossible to prove and I feel the same about my O levels as they merged the easy CSEs with the harder O levels when they brought out the GCSE and later had to bring in the A*.

None of it really matters as the univesrities could easily ask for the marks in the A level exams not just the grades but presumably they just cannot be bothered.

So do a much bigger number of A level students get A/A than the number of students getting A/A at GCSE?

Are you saying UAP that the expectation would be that children who get mostly B grades at GCSE will go on to get A/A* at A level?

I think, going by what we have been told at DS chosen sixth form, it is not impossible for someone with B's to do very well at A levels, but majority entering sixth form with B's will find it very, very hard to keep on top of the workload, and only few will have the work attitude and perseverance to surface on top and gain those elusive A* AA.

I would assume that in general, the students who get mainly A/A at GCSE are the students who go to get A/A/B at A level. Is this wrong? Do B grade at GCSE students usually go on to get B at A level?

In response to UAP's post, to get on to an Engineering degree at Oxford Brookes (Engineering, a largely graduate profession), you need BBB, including A level Maths. Is a student who gets a B in Maths at GCSE very likely to then get a B at A level?

If so, why are some schools only allowing A/A* students on to Further Maths courses, when those courses help with applications to Engineering?

Yes generally I believe that is the case MillyR, though some thrive at A Level more than GCSEs and vice versa. I certainly enjoyed A Levels a lot more than GCSEs as it was lovely being around people who only wanted to learn, though my results were fairly consistent.

Personal experience again, in DS case we had to hand in his results as he got them last thursday, sixth form Maths tutor wanted to see if DS got predicted A in Maths, and this was decisive factor in offering DS place in Further Maths.
Fear is that if the college offer the place to a child with anything lower then A, upheaval and struggle will be huge, I suppose they view Further Maths course only for those very able in Maths studies.
As for students gaining B's at GCSE and going on to achieve A at A levels, whose knows, some students succeed and other don't, I think at the age of sixteen maturity plays important part, some are mature and determine enough to press on and achieve and positively surprise, and some mature little bit later, hence finding college daunting experience.

Do they all do AS levels in year 12 now (or before)?

Just doing the three A-Levels was enough for me.

Yes - 4 As levels in Year 12 is the norm now, dropping to 3 full A levels in year 13.

Very different to "my" day and does mean lower 6th is no longer the time for the school play/ D of E /etc in quite the same way as there is exam pressure all the way through now.

Further maths is a unique subject in that it is quite usual to be required to have an A at GCSE for this. It is considered a subject that very able mathematicians do on top of normal maths and so has a higher entry level.

Remember a B at A level is certainly not a "failure" either. As pointed out above - Oxford Brooks engineering is B level entry, a good course and good career prospects.